It has been known in the past that commercial and other types of visual displays can attract the desired attention and great interest from all types of individuals if there is imparted to the display a pleasing animation effect.
In one form of prior animation display which was suggested by Fagan in U.S. Pat. No. 2,058,581 of Oct. 27, 1936 to use a slide having two different attitudes or appearances drawn or otherwise made by alternate full and dotted lines so that alternately the lines of one attitude could be registered with opaque lines and the other attitude could be made to register with a transparency in a moving endless band, or slide or disk, adapted to pass in front of or behind the slide in a suitable slide carrier. In such an arrangement the endless bank had to be provided with opaque sections at each side of the alternate opaque and transparent lines so that while traveling it would in effect bring in and block out the moving figure caused by the opaque and transparent lines of the screen. Furthermore, it was suggested that the slide could be moved in a reciprocating motion across the screen, as well as in a vertical or oblique movement to obtain motion in the display.
The foregoing prior art principle has been developed further by Rose et al in U.S. Pat. No 3,613,277 of Oct. 19, 1971 wherein a display or exhibit was constituted by a group of parallel interleaved strips arranged in overlapping relation in the means of a louver-like construction, and providing a plurality of such groups which could be moved through each other between withdrawn and extended positions so that one such group at a time could be visually inspected.
In a somewhat different arrangement it has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,172,360 of Hildburgh, Feb. 22, 1916 to provide in advertising machinery two or more plates adjacent for the purpose of selectively uncovering and covering portions of transparent areas so as to develop a number of different designs to be observed by relatively moving the plates. In this arrangement the distance between the openings relative to the size of the openings would enable an increase in the number of independent designs which could be produced.